1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to building protection systems, and more specifically, to a system for generating a preventative response to a detection of potential water leakage conditions.
2. Background of the Invention
Prevention of loss due to water damage in both residential and commercial locations has long been a concern and have been addressed in various manners in the past, the simplest of which are sump pumps or floor water presence detector. More recently, mold damage and other damage due to humidity has become a concern, in part, because health risks due to the presence of airborne “black mold” spores and damage and health risks cause by other fungi are better appreciated.
Maintaining an acceptable level of average humidity can be accomplished with dehumidifiers or by the action of heating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. However, an excess amount of humidity can indicate the presence of standing water or a roof leak that should be corrected or mold growth and other damage to building materials may quickly result. Water system leaks can also contribute to an excessive amount of humidity or standing water. A rapid response to prevent damage from such leaks is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,724 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A HOUSEHOLD WATER SUPPLY”, issued to the present inventor and which is incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a system alarm that can be enabled when a house is unoccupied and shuts off the water supply when flow is detected. Further improvements so that the system can remain continuously active and determine whether a house is occupied are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,746 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A HOUSEHOLD WATER SUPPLY INCORPORATING MOTION-SENSING FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A HOUSE IS OCCUPIED”, also issued to the present inventor and which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, the systems above-incorporated U.S. patent applications generally address prevention of water or humidity damage to the degree that the water or humidity is due to a water distribution system leak, and thus does not prevent damage due to structure leaks such as roof, wall or foundation leaks. Further, the detection of leaks is made based upon a measurement of water flow, and it is possible that a very low level of water flow from a plumbing system leak can still cause damage, such as by promoting mold growth. Finally, the systems described in the above-incorporated U.S. patent applications generally prevent the use of appliances that cause water flow when a building is unoccupied and such appliances may actually be damaged or rendered inefficient by having an interrupted water supply. For example, an automatic icemaker in a refrigerator will intermittently cause a flow sufficient to be of concern, but it is desirable that an icemaker have a water supply while operating. Appliances such as washing machines generally will have their operation interrupted by cutting off water flow to the household water supply, presenting an inconvenience.
Conditions promoting mold growth can often be detected by measuring the humidity internal to the building. However, there are times when a high level of humidity in certain areas of a residential or commercial building are normal, such as when a person is bathing or releases water vapor into the rest of a house by opening a bathroom door. Similarly, kitchen areas when in use may produce a large amount of steam under normal use.
Therefore it would be desirable to provide a method and system for detection of both water system leaks and structure leaks without causing false alarms under normal building use conditions, detection of low-flow leaks that might be missed by a flow detection system, and prevention of inconvenience, false alarms, or appliance damage due to water system interruption, when a water-flow causing appliance is left operating when a building is unoccupied.